Political Jurisdictions in Heterogeneous Communities
53 Pages Posted: 19 Jul 2004 Last revised: 24 Dec 2022
There are 3 versions of this paper
Political Jurisdictions in Heterogeneous Communities
Political Jurisdictions in Heterogeneous Communities
Date Written: August 2000
Abstract
We investigate how the number and size of local political jurisdictions in an area is determined. Our model focuses on the tradeoff between the benefits of economies of scale and the costs of a heterogeneous population. We consider heterogeneity in income, race, ethnicity, and religion, and we test the model using American school districts, school attendance areas, municipalities, and special districts. Using both cross-sectional and panel analysis, we find evidence of a significant tradeoff between economies of scale and racial heterogeneity. We find weaker tradeoffs between economies of scale and income or ethnic heterogeneity. That is, it appears that people are willing to sacrifice the most, in terms of economies of scale, in order to avoid racial heterogeneity in their jurisdiction.
Suggested Citation: Suggested Citation
Do you have negative results from your research you’d like to share?
Recommended Papers
-
By Alberto F. Alesina, William Easterly, ...
-
By Alberto F. Alesina, William Easterly, ...
-
An African Success Story: Botswana
By Daron Acemoglu, Simon Johnson, ...
-
An African Success Story: Botswana
By Daron Acemoglu, Simon Johnson, ...
-
The Economic Value of Cultural Diversity: Evidence from Us Cities